Beyond the leg break: Decoding the Shane Warne enigma
Warne was arguably the greatest spinner of all-time [PC: Twitter]
How you rate your cricketing idols goes to define what you’re made of and what you come to expect of them. Ever wondered?
Time for a basic simple confession. Maybe the fault, if there’s one, doesn’t really lie with cricketers; but with us fans. That we tend to make demigods out of mortals. Talents that at the back of hair raising exploits on the cricket field convert a dull day into something truly unforgettable.
One such star was, is, Shane Warne, who’d have been 53 today. He’s gone, but not forgotten; much like his precious cricketing deeds and even some colourful escapades that warrant as much attention as the mind boggling statistical accumulation of 1,001 international wickets.
That Warne is not with us today has, effectively speaking, endeared him even more to a globetrotting fanbase that couldn’t get enough of his talent with the ball.
Though, truth be told, Warne, 339 international appearances for Australia, was quite a player off the pitch. And it’s there where his exploits earned him not the best plaudits.
Warne grabbed 708 wickets in Test cricket
As attractive a spinner with guile, Warne was turning it around off the pitch.
A ladies man, who even ‘begged’ a few to hit it off with him, Warne’s career has so many lessons that perhaps warrant as much attention as his astonishing success as leg spinner.
Warne’s foundation, i.e., The Shane Warne Foundation ran into much controversy (quite like its founder) over financial irregularities after a little over a decade of its inception.
Later in his career, Warne, who had a stellar run as cricket’s most iconic leggie for fifteen long years, confessed to using ‘diuretics’, which he alleged was prescribed by his mum for some apparently funny reason.
This was during a tour to Sri Lanka. Earlier in his career, Warne along with good friend Mark Waugh, whose batting needs no introduction, was hounded for his association with bookies to whom he offered pitch information during a home series in Australia.
And later, in his BBL career, after he’d reformed quite a few flaws with simplicity and scope for self betterment, Warne was involved in a high octane clash with West Indian Marlon Samuels.
An appalling sight where Shane Warne was found grabbing the Jamaican’s shirt, not that Samuels was a saint, the confrontation involving quintessential F-word, offered fans a closer look at the person behind the cult of the Shane Warne personality.
But all’s fine- we think now that the superstar of cricket is gone, leaving behind a grieving family, dollops of wealth, bedazzling stats and worldwide recognition.
Sure, it’s absolutely unjust to call the Australian great names now that he’s no more. What purpose would that even serve.
But is there something to learn from cricket’s flawed genius?
Maybe, maybe not. The former, however, will take us to a realm that’s beyond the number of revolutions on the red ball and the stunning artistry with the white ball, with which he spun his country to magical victories even in the World Cup.
Warne was the star with the ball in 1999 World Cup final
It’s what Shane didn’t quite get right that has great learning for us all.
That to err is human and to learn from one’s mistakes is humanity!
Warne’s left us as an idol. And an idol he must remain; one that got the better of Lara, perplexed Sachin and challenged the Wall of India.
But at the same time, as also a man who lived it large and perhaps went overboard, though sans any regret, in colouring the canvass of life with his own paintbrush!
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